I always smiled to myself whenever I passed by Wolfman’s delicatessen
on Cross Bay Boulevard just south of the Belt Parkway, in Howard Beach, on the way to The Big Bow Wow, to put on the feed bag and chow down.
As opposed to what ? A live theater ? The name literally means “Vienna wolf”, so I would look in German neighborhoods of Brooklyn like Bushwick and Ridgewood.
Yes, that is quite a difference, Warren ! You’ve caught me in one of my rhetorical devices : mentioning in the same sentence, two things between which there really is no comparison, to provoke some thought.
However, my current interest in the RKO Madison is that search of archived newspaper movie ads starting with October 1977 to determine exactly when it showed its last film.
Re : RKO Madison Theater closing, last film date :
I reviewed Christina Wilkinson’s Forgotten NY article on Ridgewood on August 1, 2005 and directly e-mailed her my comments within a few days afterward. One of them was pretty much what I posted above. I’ve looked at her article a few times since then and she apparently has not made changes to her article based on my comments.
So I propose we continue with our plans to scan newspaper ads to find out exactly when the RKO Madison Theater showed its last film.
This is something I wish I knew, but do not, as I wish in retrospect I had been more observant, passing the RKO Madison at least ten times a week, walking from home to the subway at Myrtle and Wyckoff in the morning, and vice versa in the evening, every weekday, in commuting from my Ridgewood home to school in Manhattan.
One would think I would remember the date, or at least the week or month, the RKO Madison showed its last film, but I do not. Mea culpa.
Pending further evidence, I will assume Halloween 1977 as the date of that last film.
Thanks, Chris, that aerial view is great ! It also gives a view of the renovation in progress of the L subway line – M elevated line connection within the Wyckoff-Gates-Myrtle triangle.
The Atlas seems to be becoming the “HIV” or, as it would have been called, in a more innocent and less desperate time than is today, the “hot potato” that no one wants to touch.
Yes, Cinema Treasures has them all, from “Westminster Abbey stunt doubles” like the Valencia, on through all the concrete bunkers at the ends of shopping malls, to the packing-crates-by-the-parking-meters storefront porno houses. Perhaps the Atlas Park 8 Multiplex will get on here, for no other reason, than as the “enemy” that helped to shut down the Ridgewood.
Yes, Bway. Also The Colonial, at Bway, Rockaway Ave and Chauncey St. There was the smaller Imperial closer nearby the Halsey, on the northwest corner of Halsey Street and Saratoga Avenue, now a church, (you posted a recent photo of it), where my dad would see silent westerns with HIS Grandma Koch, my great-Grandma Koch.
Bway, I will ask my dad, but there is no guarantee that he will remember even an approximate year. Shall we get ready to search old newspaper ads again, assuming we can find them ?
Thanks, Lost Memory. I reviewed Christina Wilkinson’s Forgitten NY article on Ridgewood on August 1, 2005 and directly e-mailed her my comments within a few days afterward. One of them was pretty much what I posted above. I’ve looked at her article a few times since then and she apparently has not made changes to her article based on my comments.
So I propose we continue with our plans to scan newspaper ads to find out exactly when the RKO Madison Theater showed its last film.
This is something I wish I knew, but do not, as I wish in retrospect I had been more observant, passing the RKO Madison at least ten times a week, walking from home to the subway at Myrtle and Wyckoff in the morning, and vice versa in the evening, every weekday, in commuting from my Ridgewood home to school in Manhattan.
One would think I would remember the date, or at least the week or month, the RKO Madison showed its last film, but I do not. Mea culpa.
Pending further evidence, I will assume Halloween 1977 as the date of that last film.
I just called the Ridgewood Theater, at (718) 821-5993, the number given for it at the top of this page, located “between Cypress and Madison Avenues, in Ridgewood, Queens”, according to the recorded message I just heard. It is currently showing “The Omen” and “X-Men 3”, each on two screens, and “Over The Hedge” on its fifth screen.
It is apparently still open, and perhaps has modified its program (two blockbuster films, each on two screens) to compete with the Atlas 8 Multiplex at 80th Street and Cooper Avenue in Glendale.
This is the Emergency Email Notification System.
THIS IS NOT A DRILL. REPEAT : THIS IS NOT A DRILL !
Now, thanks to 9/11, there are no longer any Twin Towers, and, as most of us know, the once great and beautiful RKO Madison Theater is now a Liberty Department Store.
Closing date of the Madison : recommend beginning the search in October 1977 and continuing to February 1978. I KNOW, as surely as I know anything, that the RKO Madison was closed by the last Saturday of February 1978, as I have amply posted on this site, perhaps at risk of seeming as if I have “RKO Madison Turretts Syndrome” !
Warren to the rescue ?
The Werewolf theater ?
I always smiled to myself whenever I passed by Wolfman’s delicatessen
on Cross Bay Boulevard just south of the Belt Parkway, in Howard Beach, on the way to The Big Bow Wow, to put on the feed bag and chow down.
Then we have a bigger search. I think Bay Ridge was also once a German neighborhood of Brooklyn.
As opposed to what ? A live theater ? The name literally means “Vienna wolf”, so I would look in German neighborhoods of Brooklyn like Bushwick and Ridgewood.
WE ALL LIVE IN A YELLOW SUBMARINE, A YELLOW SUBMARINE, YELLOW SUBMARINE …..
Yes, that is quite a difference, Warren ! You’ve caught me in one of my rhetorical devices : mentioning in the same sentence, two things between which there really is no comparison, to provoke some thought.
However, my current interest in the RKO Madison is that search of archived newspaper movie ads starting with October 1977 to determine exactly when it showed its last film.
Re : RKO Madison Theater closing, last film date :
I reviewed Christina Wilkinson’s Forgotten NY article on Ridgewood on August 1, 2005 and directly e-mailed her my comments within a few days afterward. One of them was pretty much what I posted above. I’ve looked at her article a few times since then and she apparently has not made changes to her article based on my comments.
So I propose we continue with our plans to scan newspaper ads to find out exactly when the RKO Madison Theater showed its last film.
This is something I wish I knew, but do not, as I wish in retrospect I had been more observant, passing the RKO Madison at least ten times a week, walking from home to the subway at Myrtle and Wyckoff in the morning, and vice versa in the evening, every weekday, in commuting from my Ridgewood home to school in Manhattan.
One would think I would remember the date, or at least the week or month, the RKO Madison showed its last film, but I do not. Mea culpa.
Pending further evidence, I will assume Halloween 1977 as the date of that last film.
OK, Bway.
EVA LONGORIA IS HOT !!!
Greenpoint was a post-high school hangout of mine, 1973 to 1976.
You’re obviously on a roll (pun intended) today with these aerial views !
Thanks, Bway !
Thanks, Bway !
That’s spelled “diagonally”, Chris. Thanks for posting the image link.
Thanks, Chris, that aerial view is great ! It also gives a view of the renovation in progress of the L subway line – M elevated line connection within the Wyckoff-Gates-Myrtle triangle.
That is likely, Bway, given the large number of knitting mills in Bushwick and Ridgewood, both past and present.
The Atlas seems to be becoming the “HIV” or, as it would have been called, in a more innocent and less desperate time than is today, the “hot potato” that no one wants to touch.
Yes, Cinema Treasures has them all, from “Westminster Abbey stunt doubles” like the Valencia, on through all the concrete bunkers at the ends of shopping malls, to the packing-crates-by-the-parking-meters storefront porno houses. Perhaps the Atlas Park 8 Multiplex will get on here, for no other reason, than as the “enemy” that helped to shut down the Ridgewood.
Yes, Bway. Also The Colonial, at Bway, Rockaway Ave and Chauncey St. There was the smaller Imperial closer nearby the Halsey, on the northwest corner of Halsey Street and Saratoga Avenue, now a church, (you posted a recent photo of it), where my dad would see silent westerns with HIS Grandma Koch, my great-Grandma Koch.
Bway, I will ask my dad, but there is no guarantee that he will remember even an approximate year. Shall we get ready to search old newspaper ads again, assuming we can find them ?
Understood, Warren. Thanks.
Lost Memory, I will pass on listing the Atlas, as I know next to nothing about it.
Yes, Bway, 666 : very smart. Glad you’re getting at least some e-mails.
Thanks, Lost Memory. I reviewed Christina Wilkinson’s Forgitten NY article on Ridgewood on August 1, 2005 and directly e-mailed her my comments within a few days afterward. One of them was pretty much what I posted above. I’ve looked at her article a few times since then and she apparently has not made changes to her article based on my comments.
So I propose we continue with our plans to scan newspaper ads to find out exactly when the RKO Madison Theater showed its last film.
This is something I wish I knew, but do not, as I wish in retrospect I had been more observant, passing the RKO Madison at least ten times a week, walking from home to the subway at Myrtle and Wyckoff in the morning, and vice versa in the evening, every weekday, in commuting from my Ridgewood home to school in Manhattan.
One would think I would remember the date, or at least the week or month, the RKO Madison showed its last film, but I do not. Mea culpa.
Pending further evidence, I will assume Halloween 1977 as the date of that last film.
Warren, I find that surprising. One would think there would be evening screenings for adults on Friday, Saturday & Sunday, school or not.
BTW, has anyone started a page yet for the Atlas Park multiplex ?
I just searched for it as “Atlas 8”, and drew a blank.
I just called the Ridgewood Theater, at (718) 821-5993, the number given for it at the top of this page, located “between Cypress and Madison Avenues, in Ridgewood, Queens”, according to the recorded message I just heard. It is currently showing “The Omen” and “X-Men 3”, each on two screens, and “Over The Hedge” on its fifth screen.
It is apparently still open, and perhaps has modified its program (two blockbuster films, each on two screens) to compete with the Atlas 8 Multiplex at 80th Street and Cooper Avenue in Glendale.
This is the Emergency Email Notification System.
THIS IS NOT A DRILL. REPEAT : THIS IS NOT A DRILL !
Real cool ? Glad you liked it, stevel.
Now, thanks to 9/11, there are no longer any Twin Towers, and, as most of us know, the once great and beautiful RKO Madison Theater is now a Liberty Department Store.
Sic transit gloria Ridgewood.
Closing date of the Madison : recommend beginning the search in October 1977 and continuing to February 1978. I KNOW, as surely as I know anything, that the RKO Madison was closed by the last Saturday of February 1978, as I have amply posted on this site, perhaps at risk of seeming as if I have “RKO Madison Turretts Syndrome” !